Rachel Polonsky

British journalist Rachel Polonsky tells about discovering an apartment in Moscow that was once home to Vyacheslav Molotov, one of Stalin’s ruthless henchmen. She uncovered an extensive library and an old magic lantern in his old apartment, which led her on an extraordinary journey throughout Russia. In Molotov’s Magic Lantern: Travels in Russian History she visits the cities and landscapes of the books from Molotov’s library: works by Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, and others, some of which were sent to the Gulag by the very man who collected their books.